Vitalik's key points from the Devconnect Argentina conference technical speech: EIP-7732, zkVMs, and the vision of a streamlined Ethereum

Core Philosophy: The Paradigm Shift from “Trust” to “Verification”

The fundamental logic behind Ethereum’s design is to solve the trust dilemma inherent in traditional centralized systems. Centralized entities rely on users’ “don’t be evil” assumptions, whereas Ethereum achieves “cannot be evil” through cryptography and protocol rules. This difference may seem subtle but actually represents a core distinction in system design—users can independently verify the state without relying on the solvency of intermediaries.

Compared to specialized protocols, Ethereum chooses the path of general programmability. Its goal is not infinite horizontal scalability (such as large-scale LLM inference), but to maintain a global consensus layer unaffected by geopolitical influences, forming a single deterministic state.

Practical Boundaries of Blockchain and Breakthroughs in Cryptography

Blockchain applications go far beyond DeFi. In scenarios lacking consensus, peer-to-peer networks cannot prevent double-spending attacks—here, transaction ordering becomes a critical infrastructure. The more advanced application is “proof of non-existence”: cryptographically verifying the scarcity of an asset or proving that a certain event never occurred.

Isolated blockchains face structural limitations. The speed bottleneck brought by transaction transparency and decentralization—latencies below 50 milliseconds—inevitably lead to centralization. Moreover, blockchains cannot directly access real-world data and must rely on oracles.

The solution points toward programmable cryptography. Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) enable verification without revealing raw data. Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) allow computations directly on encrypted data. These technologies shift the paradigm of collaborative computation from reliance on centralized intermediaries to cryptographic verification.

Technical Roadmap for Protocol Upgrades: From EIP-7732 to zkVMs

Recent Ethereum upgrades focus on breaking execution bottlenecks. EIP-7732 (Proposer-Builder Separation, PBS) is a key step, allowing verifiers to spend more time processing blocks without risking centralization. Coupled with block-level access lists, transactions can be processed in parallel, directly overcoming the limitations of serial execution.

The current synchronized blockchain history requires TB-scale data and days to sync. zkVMs change this paradigm. By verifying execution via SNARKs instead of recomputation, computational demands are reduced to near zero. This enables mobile devices to become native nodes, further strengthening decentralization.

Focil mechanism expands the power of verifiers, allowing a broader range of participants to propose “mini-blocks,” increasing the guarantee that transactions are included. Account abstraction and smart wallets enable key rotation and social recovery, eliminating reliance on centralized custody.

Long-term Vision: Streamlining Ethereum’s Tech Stack

The ultimate goal is lean Ethereum—optimizing and simplifying the entire tech stack. This includes adopting hash algorithms suitable for zero-knowledge proofs (Poseidon), formal verification, single-slot finality, and quantum-resistant encryption. The overall direction emphasizes security, code simplicity, and mathematical optimality.

These upgrades are not isolated feature improvements but aim to build a more decentralized, censorship-resistant, and cryptography-based protocol ecosystem. Ethereum is evolving from a conceptual “world computer” into a robust, privacy-preserving technological framework.